The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favor of freezing Turkey’s European Union accession talks, citing numerous examples of Ankara’s “disproportionate” and “repressive” measures under the state of emergency.
Specifically, the group noted Turkey's breaches of basic rights and freedoms, “severe restrictions” on freedom of expression and the media, the arrest of 10 Kurdish lawmakers and some 150 journalists, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s stance in favor of reinstating the death penalty and “statements disputing the Treaty of Lausanne, which defines the borders of modern Turkey and has contributed to safeguarding peace and stability in the region for almost a century.”